Stray Tiger
by bittersweetKandy
Summary: first fanfic, formerly titled "Tiger & Tanuki" - w/ an alternate pairing: KxE (but I'm usually for KxK!) Some waff, more pathetic drama. Takes place a few months after the Jinchuu arc. *ON HOLD*
1. After Jinchuu

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Author's Note/Disclaimer: The characters in this story belong to Watsuki Nobuhiro, Sony Entertainment, Jump Comics, etc. This is only for entertainment purposes only, not for profit. PLEASE DON'T SUE ME. *flashes wallet with – wHoA – FIVE DOLLARS IN IT* 

This is my first fanfic in my WHOLE LIFE, so please don't flame me too much as I am counting on improving by reading excellent fics by other excellent writers.

The night was beautiful; there was no doubt about that. There was not a cloud in the sky; the atmosphere above seemed to represent well the endless blue-black void it was, and the heavens were full of bright, shining stars that twinkled amiably down upon whoever happened to be watching them. And many people were – watching the stars, that is. Laughing joyously and enjoying their time together, the lively people of 19th century Tokyo were savoring every minute of their lives in the crisp, young night.

But there was one person who was not gazing skyward – more like, at his feet, that is. His name was Yukishiro Enishi. A forlorn and depressing character he was to look at, this man. Standing at about six feet tall, with broad shoulders and a huge katana strapped boldly across his back, and deep sky blue eyes that were hard not to stare into with wonder and puzzlement. He was a vague and mysterious wanderer who never said much. At least that's what the citizens of Tokyo would say. But no one _really_ knew him. They were intimidated by the power of his icy blue gaze, of course, and his lean, muscled, towering stature. But they knew nothing of him, except that he often wandered aimlessly throughout the streets of Tokyo and all of Japan. No one really cared about him, anyway. To most everyone, he was just another customer, another odd, quiet stranger. (A/N: So that's why we must get inside his thoughts, ne? ~_^)

~~

Enishi had no idea how long he'd been walking. All _he _knew was that he was getting _cold._ He needed to find someplace to stay. He was staring at his feet, thinking of..well, nothing, really. It wasn't until he saw a flicker of silky black hair tied in a blue ribbon that the gears in his mind began to creak and turn. Was it _her_? No, it couldn't be. His heart quickened its pace as he followed the girl with the black hair to a busy intersection and tried desperately to get a look at her face through the crowd. He couldn't, but he saw there was a young man walking with her who said something along the lines of: "Would you like to go to the Akabeko tonight, Asako?" He sighed. So it wasn't _her_. His breathing slowed down a bit and he returned to his original bored state. He had to admit, he had been thinking of her lately, a little bit…. Okay, so maybe not _a little bit_. Maybe..a lot more. Those big blue eyes and that sunshiny smile still stood out clearly in his mind's eye. And the way her voice, full of youthful enthusiasm, was always loud enough to be audible but gentle like a young girl at the same time. He hadn't heard her voice in a long time. Sure, she was nothing like his dead ne-san, but she reminded him of her. Maybe it was the fact that they both loved the same man. He felt a sharp pang of pain in his gut when he thought of that..that _murderer_, that _killer_. How could they have ever loved a man like him? He had killed so many, that red-haired rurouni. But he wasn't a killer anymore. 

"Of course not," Enishi reassured himself. His thoughts drifted back to _her_, and the former killer rurouni. They loved each other, that was for sure. And the latter had turned into a wussy, an idiotic moron, since his last days of battle in the Bakumatsu. And _she_ loved him, though his hands were stained with blood from a thousand deaths that had been caused by him. And _her…_ She was so _innocent_, so _pure_. Enishi wondered vaguely if they were together by now. It had been months since he'd last seen them. Maybe they were married already, with children, and living happily ever after like they should. After all, the hero always gets the happy ending – isn't that the way it always goes? But Kenshin was a shy man. He would never bring himself to confess to the young shihondai. Kenshin was always so afraid that he would ruin her purity. But _she_ was a much wiser woman than Kenshin believed her to be. Enishi remembered the last time he had seen _her_. She was a young woman already, of course, at about eighteen years old. She alone had had the power to stop Enishi's blind rage that had almost caused Kenshin's death. He wondered what _she_ would think of him now if _she_ saw him again. Probably something negative, as he had done nothing to deserve _her_ respect. How could he expect _her_ to, after what _she'd_ been through with him? He had kidnapped _her_ from her home, faked _her_ death to her one and only, held _her_ hostage on a secluded island, and waited for _her_ rurouni to come and rescue her so that he may slice his head off. Why would _she_ even want to see him anymore? He didn't know.

He had been walking without a destination this whole time, completely absorbed in his thoughts and thoroughly unaware of his surroundings. And when his footsteps ceased, he looked up finally, and realized that he was standing right in front of the Kamiya dojo. "Oh shit," he whispered to himself as he realized where he had been going. Just a few months ago, the front of this building had been covered up with a huge sign bearing the words, "JIN-CHUU." That had been his doing, of course. Yes. She would probably pull that random magically appearing shinai out of nowhere as she had done countless times before and beat the shit out of him…As she had tried to do countless times before.

Before Enishi knew it, he was yawning sleepily, and his eyelids were drooping reluctantly. He finally gave in to his exhaustion, set his scarce belongings on the ground, sat himself down, and had fallen asleep instantly.

~~

Late the next morning, the Kamiya dojo was filled with sounds of laughter and running. Kaoru paused in her morning chores to watch the two little girls play in the front yard. Kenshin had set off early to go fishing for dinner, Yahiko was helping out at the Akabeko, and Sano was…well, probably off gambling, as usual.

"MY doll can be the mommy," yelled Ayame.

"No no no! I wanna be the mommy," cried Suzume, running after her friend.

Kaoru chuckled silently to herself as she returned to her duty of mopping the wooden dojo floor. The toddlers continued sprinting across the yard until they disappeared around the corner of the towering wooden fence surrounding the Kamiya territory. There were more shouts, and then silence. Kaoru, being the alert and reflexive kenjustu master (assistant-master) she was, glanced up from her cleaning to listen for any sounds of a struggle or fall. Suddenly she heard the two girls running and hollering again, and saw them appear from behind the enclosure. She halted her work briefly to hear what they were saying. 

"Kaoru-nee-chan!!!" Ayame shrieked excitedly.

"Kaoru-nee-chan!!!" Suzume screeched in the same manner. "There's someone at the front gate, Kaoru-nee-chan!" 

The young woman's face scrunched up into a frightening scowl, and she pushed her sleeves up to her elbows as she stomped to the front gate. "It had better not be another one of those solicitors," she growled, "'cause this time I'm going to squish him flat!" When she reached the huge wooden door, she pulled it open with both hands and prepared to beat up the visitor. But instead, an immense gasp found its way through her lips as she stared, stunned, at a pair of light blue eyes gazing straight into her own.

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A/N: Yeah..so..what'd you think? Leave comments plse! REVIEWS REVIEW HAR HAR HAR *bounces off*


	2. Lodging for the Madman?

**Disclaimer: I don't own anything. You know that.**

**A/N: Remember, this _is my first fanfic, and I am really not as good or had as much practice as a lot of other writers out there, so please be patient! I'm going to alternate between revealing Kaoru's thoughts, then Enishi's. If you don't like anything, please leave a review and tell me what you think! The first few chapters might be a bit short, and it might go a bit slow for a while, but I'll work it out as I go. So…here goes._**

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She knew those eyes. They were just like her own, but even she could see the pain and sadness behind the calm blue surface that was melting away his spirit, leaving him void of emotions. They were nothing like Kenshin's kind amethyst pupils, or Sano's warm chocolate brown ones. But they were not as distant as those of Aoshi, as though there was still some life left that flickered and glimmered through the windows of his soul. She knew perfectly well who it was, yet as she gaped, wide-eyed, at Kenshin's would-be slaughterer, her fierce kidnapper, and her mortal enemy, the only thing she could manage to get out of her mouth was a one-word whisper.

"Enishi."

~~~

_She hates me. I know it. Looking into her beautiful eyes and seeing nothing but pure disbelief, I know that as soon as she recovers, she'll scream at me until I'm on the other side of town. So why am I still standing here? Can she tell how nervous I am? Enishi held his breath hesitantly. __Feh__.__ It doesn't matter. To hear her saying his name alone was enough. Intoxicated by her voice, he tried to regain a calm disposition and waited patiently for some sort of violent reaction. To his astonishment, it didn't come. Instead, Kaoru took a step back and gestured timidly with her arm. _

"Come in."

~~~

Her shock registered off the charts. This was so unexpected. She had let him in. She had let a six-foot madman into the Kamiya dojo. Why? It had been such a long time since the Jinchuu incident…And as he followed her through the door, she remembered the way he had looked when they were alone in his mansion: sometimes livid when consumed by anger, but most often depressed as he thought about his nee-san, who had died in Kenshin's bloody arms more than a decade ago. She had never known Yukishiro Tomoe, but from what people had told her, Tomoe had been a beautiful, elegant young woman, unbelievably beautiful. _And I'm such a clumsy, crude, blatant, bokken-weilding tomboy. I can't expect much more from someone like me. Unwillingly, she sighed audibly, and wondered how the presence of just one person could bring about so many unwelcome thoughts and memories._

Kaoru led him through the front yard, where little Ayame and Suzume stood waiting, with innocent, curious smiles upon their faces.

"Who's that?" Ayame had the courage to prod.

"Ermm…This is Mr. Enishi. He...came by to visit today," replied Kaoru, unsure of how to respond. Enishi remained his usual silent self.

"Hello, Enishi-san!"

"Yorushiku (A/N: Is that spelled right?), Enishi-san!" They waved cheerfully and went on playing.

Enishi smiled inwardly at the children's foolishness – or was it because they were so cute? He didn't know - and followed Kaoru into the house. There was a short but awkward quiet between them, and then the young woman broke the silence with her voice.

"So…What reason brings you here, Enishi?"

In truth, he didn't really know why he was here. Some odd, impulsive feeling had made him knock on her door minutes after he had woken up. And he was just beginning to regret not thinking twice. Although he had to admit it was nice to see her again, to hear her sweet voice. It was in quiet moments like these, when Kaoru's fervent fighting spirit was calm, that she reminded him undeniably of Tomoe, his long-gone ne-san. "I've been traveling a lot lately, by foot, and I need a place to stay. Do you think you could help me?" Somewhere in his eyes there was an almost pleading hope, but Kaoru failed to notice it.

_I can refuse his request, she thought. __I could kick him out of this house right now, and tell him to never come back. After all, he is __Kenshin's enemy. What would Kenshin think if he finds out I'm letting him stay here? But there were some "but on the other hand"s, and an odd little voice in Kaoru's head asked her what harm could he possibly do? Her sympathy for him during the Jinchuu incident returned._

Enishi found interest in looking at his surroundings while Kaoru contemplated her answer. It had been such a long time since he'd last seen this place, and he had never really taken a close look at it. The Kamiya residence was huge. It was hard to imagine this girl owning such a large, beautiful, and old, yet clean house, while she was barely managing to get through life in her poor financial state. Why didn't she just sell the dojo? She would undoubtedly get filthy rich if she did. What Enishi didn't know was how many valuable memories were buried within the great wooden frame – some still lived vividly in Kaoru's mind.

"Okay."

"Hmm?" Enishi's mind jumped back out of his thoughts and into reality.

"I'll let you settle here for a little while, as long as you stay sane and don't try any murder attempts on anyone, okay?" It sounded silly, but she was dead serious. Enishi chuckled at her words with his smooth, deep voice, making Kaoru even more nervous than she already was.

"Thank you, Kaoru," he replied, sincerely grateful for the hospitality. Imagine! No more cold nights spent outside in the wintry weather! "What can I do to make up for your generosity?"

"You can start by helping out with the chores," said a flat and unexpected voice from the doorway. Surprised, both Enishi and Kaoru turned to see a certain slightly unhappy-looking red-haired rurouni standing nearby. 

"O-Okaeri nasai, Kenshin," stammered an utterly shocked Kaoru. She had no idea what a huge impact this decision would have on her life. 

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**A/N: So…leave reviews for my crappy story, will ya?**


	3. Settling In

**Disclaimer: You know I don't own Rurouni Kenshin. Though I wish I did. ^_^**

**A/N: Do ppl even READ the Author's Notes? ::whew:: Got off the plane not long ago from a winter vacation where I have been hanging out under the sun and working on ch.3 of this fic.**

**EK: Thanks for reminding me that Enishi was in fact forgiven at the end of Jinchuu. I kept reminding myself about that but forgot it immediately, confusing myself. But it would be much more interesting if he hadn't been forgiven, ne?**

**Thanks so much to my talented writer and friend Delusional Freak (I COMMAND YOU TO GO READ HER FICS!) and Jess (TheRabidMuffin – beware, her fics are a bit…scary ^_^U) for advice for this fic! And I didn't think I would get so many positive reviews; thanks y'all for encouraging me to keep writing! I know my writing's not very good so I'll try to improve my dull and short chapters that you ppl are probably fed up of. The update gaps between chapters will probably be longer, though. Anyway, here goes.**

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Kenshin shifted his feet closer to the center of the room and looked up at the taller man. Yep, it was him all right. Who could mistake that great bunch of spiky white hair for someone else?

"Enishi. Welcome."

The younger man laughed quietly, meaning to be casual, but his voice contained just the slightest bit of uneasiness. He pushed his round glasses up with one finger and nodded stiffly. "Kenshin." Kenshin. The name rolled awkwardly off his tongue, rusty from years of being unused.

Kaoru stared ahead at the uncomfortable scene between the former Hitokiri Battousai and his regretful brother-in-law.  Obviously, since they had forgiven each other, there was still some tension between them. In a way, Tomoe still shone through Enishi's familiar features, haunting Kenshin as he gazed into the dark sapphire eyes, ambiguously shadowed by the dark shades that were always settled loosely on the bridge of his nose. But Kenshin, not being the type to hold grudges on anyone besides himself, quickly dismissed the image of his deceased wife that swam around in his head.

"Kaoru-dono." She looked up and saw the rurouni force a smile onto his scarred face. "Why don't you show Enishi to his room where he will be staying." Not a question. Not at all. She nodded her head meekly, still a little afraid of Tomoe's younger brother. But just then, Enishi flashed her a toothy smile that almost made her forget about the bad things he had done before. She almost blushed. _Almost. He __was quite handsome, after all._

Kenshin stared after them as the two disappeared into another room. During all this time, he had forgotten about Enishi. He had assumed he was wandering around in Kyoto, or had gotten a job and settled down somewhere. He had expected least of all that he would find his way back to Kaoru-dono's dojo here in Tokyo to – to what? What was Enishi _really doing here, anyway? Kenshin turned around to head out and finish his chores. __Maa, maa, it doesn't matter anyway. He __said he needed shelter because he was traveling. __Kind of like the way sessha first got to know Kaoru-dono, he thought, smiling to himself at the youthful bravery of the young kendo master. The ex-assassin gently shook his head and strolled out to the yard._

~~~~~

"You can sleep here. I hope you don't find it too…too…"

"No. It's just fine. Thank you," replied Enishi, looking around at the fairly small and ordinary room. Compared to some of his previous accommodations, though, this was almost luxurious. _And quite homely, he remarked to himself. He glanced at Kaoru, who also seemed to be examining her surroundings. It occurred to him that this room had probably not been used in a long time. __I wonder who it had been last used by, thought Enishi. Kaoru smiled then, but he couldn't tell exactly what she was really feeling. __So modest of her, he thought. __A bit like my sister, but at least she__ knew how to cook._

"Well, make yourself at home." That was Kaoru's voice. He could sense the doubtfulness in it. But what was she uncertain of? He watched her as she bowed politely and immediately exited the room, leaving him alone. By himself. He remembered times when he would call out desperately to his ne-san whenever he felt alone. Restless, all he had wanted was to see her soft smile, to hear her gentle voice speak guidance to him so that he may know how to avenge her death. But those times were over, he knew. He was a new man now, with a bright and hopeful future in front of him. He was still young. He was going to live his new life well. He dropped his bag and set the wrapped-up katana onto the wooden floor boards. But how? Maybe the answer lay in the hands of the former Battousai and a certain raven-haired tanuki. Sliding open the paper shoji, he stepped out into the sunlight to find out.

~~~~~

Kenshin sighed quietly. After that little unforeseen episode, all he wanted to do was to relax and clean a pile of his precious laundry. He had been too busy this past week and it had piled up to the point where he could ignore it no more. Glad to at least be able to take care of something more familiar, he proceeded to wash the clothes. But before he could touch the tub, he sensed the presence of someone behind him who was not Kaoru. Turning around, he saw Enishi standing there with a little smile on his face.

"I want to help with the laundry!" he declared with determination.

"ORO." ::sweatdrop:: o_OxU Kenshin nearly keeled over from shock. Did he just hear what he _thought he just heard? Did someone __besides himself just offer to touch his precious laundry? "Anou…Why, Enishi?" (A/N: I keep juggling the idea that maybe he should call him Enishi-dono like he does to almost everyone else. Could ya give me a hand here please?)_

"I want to learn about the things you do!" said Enishi innocently. "Everyone likes you for being this way, so I want to learn how to be like you!" (WOW! Enishi _really wants to be a new man, ne?)_

"A..Anou, Enishi…" mumbled a wide-eyed Kenshin

"So!" Enishi knelt down next to the tub filled with soap, water, and clothes. "Hmm…" He had never done this before; it was all so new to him. He stared into the dark water and thrust one hand into the bucket, then pulled out a wet article of clothing that looked a lot like a woman's undergarments. Enishi turned a colour usually seen in ripe tomatoes. After a long moment of staring at the garb: : "Ermm…What do I do now?"

"OROORO!" ::THUD:: Poor Kenshin, who was just recovering from shock, finally fainted at the idea that anyone could lack such knowledge. Confused, Enishi threw the sopping wet clothing onto the drying rack. He repeated this with all the laundry, until the bamboo rack was full of soaking wet clothes. Little did he know, Kaoru, who had just finished with her kata, had crept out of one of the rooms and watched the whole scene with growing fascination. If she hadn't been secretly rolling around in laughter at Enishi, she would have stomped out and scolded him silly a long time ago. Oh boy, Kenshin will have quite a heart attack when he wakes up! Now, wiping tears from her eyes (for she had been laughing so hard that she had started crying), she waited to observe Kenshin's [most likely violent] reaction to such a travesty done upon his laundry!

And when Kenshin woke up, he was every bit the Hitokiri Battousai he had been known to be. He ordered Enishi to do everything just the way it was supposed to be. And he could be quite a strict master when he wanted to be! Poor Enishi! Muscles sore and burning after hours of perfecting the skill of clothes washing, all Enishi really wanted to do was to go to sleep. And he had thought it would be so much simpler! For no one can get away from Kenshin, Exalted Master of Thy Laundry-Washing-And-Cooking-And-House-Chores-of-the-Sort!

As soon as the sun disappeared below the horizon, Kaoru emerged from inside the house and alerted Kenshin that it was his turn to cook dinner tonight. _Good, thought Enishi, remembering how Kaoru had generously offered to cook for the both of them at his island mansion. Unfortunately, her food had been terrible as usual. But he had finished it nonetheless, so she would not get angry; he had been very hungry anyway, and her cooking, thankfully, had been edible._

Despite his exhaustion, Enishi followed Kenshin curiously into the kitchen. "Can I help?" he ventured, sounding almost like a tamed tiger.

Kenshin looked up, slightly puzzled. "What does cooking have to do with friends de gozaru ka?"

"Well…" responded Enishi innocently. "If you kill off all of your friends with bad cooking, you won't have any friends left!  
  


"ORO," said Kenshin, as he thought of Kaoru and her often fatal cooking. He had to admit that what Enishi said was very true! And so began Yukishiro Enishi's cooking lessons.

~~~~~

Sanosuke sighed, put a large hand in his pocket, and ran his other hand through his thick brown spiky hair. _Another day of losses. He had lost more than two thousand en today at gambling. When was he going to finally going to __win something? His luck always failed him. That, or he had none. He sighed again, more audibly this time, as he ambled toward his home-away-from-home, the Kamiya Dojo, and hoped that Jou-chan wouldn't bash him too much for losing what meager amounts of money she had left. His keen senses suddenly alerted him to a pair of quick, light footsteps headed in his same general direction, and around the corner appeared a tiny figure, mostly shadowed by the growing darkness. The only thing the silhouette gave away was a head of dark spiky hair._

"Oi! Yahiko!" Sano called out, and the little silhouette froze. 

"Hey Sano! What's up!" The young boy with black spiky hair jogged toward the former street fighter, who was nearly twice as tall as he.

Sano scratched at the red bandanna that circled his head and smiled sadly. "I lost a lot of money today, Yahiko. I dunno what I'm gonna do."

"Well, you'd better think of something fast, man, or you're gonna be in some deep shit. You know Kaoru's not going to like the fact that you wasted her money as usual." The junior samurai laughed.

"Yeah, I dunno if she'll ever get tired of beating up on me."

Yahiko sniggered boyishly, then stiffened. "I guess she needs to release all the stress she has on someone sometimes. That someone is often Kenshin. You know how she is."

Sano nodded solemnly and continued walking. It didn't take a genius to notice how Kaoru felt about Kenshin, no matter how much she yelled at him or pounded him with her shinai. She had loved him ever since they had met on that fateful evening many moons ago, and she had gotten somewhat attached to him. But he never seemed to notice her emotions, and if he did, he hid it well. They assumed it was most likely that he was afraid to love her, for fear that he might bring on something horrible, just like he had done to Tomoe without truly meaning to hurt her.

They walked in silence for the next few minutes as they approached Kaoru's house. After letting themselves in, they strolled across the yard toward the front entrance, catching a glimpse of a certain lighted room on the way. Yahiko turned his head to look up at his older friend. "Kenshin's cooking, ne?"

Sano grinned. "Yeah. Thank Kami-sama – I don't think I could survive any more of Jou-chan's cooking after she burned that perfectly nice salmon the other night. Kenshin managed to escape by claiming that he was tired and not hungry! But she wouldn't let _us get away with it, __nooo." And he made a disgusted face to show just how dreadful the fish had tasted. _

Yahiko took a peek into the kitchen to see what Kenshin was making, and let out a gasp. "Sano, look at this!"

The ex-street fighter peered into the kitchen as well. "There's someone else in there. Who is it?" They crept up to the window to get a closer look, and heard Kenshin's patient instructing voice.

"All right, that's enough soy sauce, Enishi."

"Okay."

Both eavesdroppers listened, wide-eyed. Enishi was here?! And he was _cooking?! "ENISHI?!" _

::THUD:: @_@  @_@  The freeloader and the petite boy fell to the ground simultaneously, out cold and utterly dumbfounded. Kaoru happened to walk by just then. "Mou," she whined. "What happened?? I can barely manage to carry a fainted Yahiko, that growing boy, but _Yahiko and Sano? What am I going to do?" And so she proceeded to drag the unconscious bodies into the house before they froze in the chilly night._

~~~~~

Kenshin noticed that Enishi had much more potential in cooking than at doing laundry. He taught him how to make misoshiro and yummy rice balls; Enishi's cooking was thankfully decent, and maybe even better than Kenshin's. All he needed was some more practice. Yep.

Lifting the wooden spoon to his [ahem – beautiful] lips, Enishi calmly tasted some of his own soup. And he found it good – however – "Mmhmmm…Needs a little more water."

During their little cooking session, Kenshin had discovered that Enishi happened to be a perfectionist at cooking, and was very hard on himself so that he may create the ideal meal. Seriously! He handed Enishi the bowl of hot water and watched as the ex-madman/brother-in-law/talented cook concocted a delicious supper. He pondered what it maybe could have been like if Enishi had learned how to cook earlier so the Kenshin-gumi would not have had to endure all of Kaoru's failing attempts at making food. _Maybe now I won't have to cook so often, thought Kenshin, smiling at Enishi's diligent concentration._

Kenshin didn't even have to help his hardworking apprentice now. Enishi gathered all the rice balls onto a plate, poured the finished soup evenly into five separate bowls, and turned his pretty blue-gray eyes to look expectantly into an amethyst pair. "Finished."

"Okay. Let's clean up."

"Mmhmm." Enishi nodded without a word.

After a few minutes of clattering pots, messy towel-wiping, and "where does this go?"s, they were all done. Kenshin poked his head around the doorway. "Dinner is ready!"

~~~~~

"WHAT?!"

Sano and Yahiko leaned forward in their sitting spots on the floor shortly after they had awoken to make sure they weren't misunderstanding something.

"Yes, Enishi has been traveling for some time now, and he will be staying here for…I don't know how long," reported Kaoru, hands folded impassively in her lap. "But he is to be treated respectfully, like a normal houseguest."

Yahiko pouted and averted his eyes. "Kenshin was just a normal houseguest…And look at how you treat _him."_

"W-well, that's different," stammered Kaoru, blushing.

Sano frowned. "Are you sure you want to do this, Jou-chan?"

Kaoru nodded. "Enishi has changed. After all, Kenshin was the Hitokiri Battousai, and we let _him stay."_

The two males sitting in front of her nodded, realizing her point. Nevertheless, Sano wrung his hands nervously, while Yahiko's mind unwillingly recalled the way Kaoru's fake corpse had looked after being pinned to the wall with Enishi's sword through her – no – _the doll's heart. He had tried to be strong then, as he always did when tragedy struck. But deep down inside he had been breaking. Kaoru was precious; she was like a sister to him, no matter how many times he called her an ugly hag, or how often she would knock him over the head with her wooden sword – he loved her. He vowed to himself that he wouldn't let anything bad happen to his tanuki one-san._

Suddenly they heard a call from the other side of the house. "It sounds like Kenshin," noted Sano, also deep in thought.

"Yes," Kaoru replied, standing up. "I think it's dinnertime."

Kenshin served Enishi's meal after they had all gathered together. Yahiko looked surprised and impressed, Kaoru was slightly angry that Enishi could cook better than she, and Sano was just plain hungry. Besides, those rice balls and misoshiro looked and smelled very tasty. There were plenty of "mmm!"s, and "oishii"s as dinner was devoured by the famished gumi and a satisfied Enishi.

During the middle of the meal, however, Kaoru stopped eating and looked up from her food. "Sano?"

"Mhmm?" responded Sano as best as he could with his rice-filled mouth.

"So…What happened with the twenty-five hundred or so en that I gave you this morning?"

"Umm…" ::gulp:: "I used it..for…fun."

Everyone stopped chewing. "What fun?" asked Kaoru.

"Uhhh…I was..playing with some friends at the Akabeko?" (Uh-oh, Sano! Think fast!)

"You were gambling." Her voice was flat and emotionless, frighteningly calm.

"Aye."

"You were gambling." She had to repeat it to convince herself of what she was hinting. All eyes were now on the sweating ex-street fighter.

"Ahh…yeah."

"You lost it! You lost it all to your friends, didn't you?" Kaoru stood up suddenly.

"A-anou…anou…" He didn't know what to say.

Yahiko sneered quietly. "You're in for it now, Sano."

"SAGARA SANOSUKE!" Clanging objects and running feet, thuds and a young man screaming for his life were mostly what was heard as Kamiya Kaoru gave Sagara Sanosuke a sound beating for his awful wrongdoing. (A/N: NYARHAR HAR HARMUAHAHAHA poor Sano *laughs head off* ::THUD:: Oops. *screws head back on*)

~~~~~

Having retired to his room for the night, Enishi now pulled off his shirt, revealing a scarred and muscled chest, and lay in bed thinking about the day's events. (A/N: I see all you girls out there drooling! O_O My Enishi! MINE!) It had been such a long time since he had last been truly happy, and now he was, for the moment. The Kenshin-gumi was so cute sometimes; Enishi wondered how they could still be so chaste after all the hardships they had been through. But that was what was nice about them – they didn't have to put any effort into making someone smile. And Enishi had laughed along with the others earlier when Kaoru gave Sano her vicious but comical punishment. God, that girl had a lot of youthful vigor in her. He grinned heartily and then closed his eyes to surrender to well-earned sleep.

~~~~~~~~~~

**EK: Thanks for the paragraph indenting tip, but lately I prefer not to. Don't ask me why. I just think it looks a little better. But if indenting will make it easier for you to read, then tell me!**

**Soul: I _might have a jealous Kenshin, but it's also likely I won't. But I won't say more. _**

**Hey guys! _READ HERE!!! When you leave your review (and you had BETTER REVIEW!), tell me if you want a jealous Kenshin and/or a fight for Kaoru between Kenshin and Enishi. Please keep in mind that Kenshin knows the Hiten Mitsurugi Ryuu, and is EXTREMELY powerful when provoked!_**

**So…yeah. Please don't hate me cuz I'm a bad writer – if you think so, please leave reviews w/ any suggestions or comments that come to mind!**

**Mini-Glossary**

**Hitokiri Battousai – Kenshin's nickname during the Bakumatsu, basically meaning "Master Assassin Battousai"**

**Shihondai – assistant master**

**-dono – a very polite and old-fashioned honorific fixed onto the end of a name**

**rurouni – wandering samurai**

**maa maa – an expression similar to "now, now," or "calm down"**

**sessha – a very humble way of addressing oneself, "this unworthy one"**

**kendo – a form of martial arts**

**ne-san – older sister (though when Yahiko uses it for Kaoru, they're not really related)**

**Oro – a little exclamation Kenshin likes to use when he's shocked or surprised**

**En – Jap. money; you might have thought I was crazy and left out the Y, but actually, it's en. I just like to write it this way because that's the way it's really written**

**Kamiya Dojo – I hope you've figured _this out by now, it's Kaoru's martial arts training building and house_**

**Jou-chan – Sano's little nickname for Kaoru, it basically means "lil girl" or "lil missie"; I personally think it's cute!**

**Mou – an impatient exclamation; it's sort of rude**

**Misoshiro – miso soup**

**Gumi – group of friends**

**Tanuki – raccoon (another one of Kaoru's many nicknames)**

**Oishii – "good!"; referring to food**


End file.
